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There are some hidden contemporary gems in London that are located a bit outside the center and that could be missed if you don't know about them as it's unlikely you'll pass by coincidence.

In Islington, is nested the Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art, a gallery devoted to modern Italian art. The Collection was founded by American sociologist and writer Eric Estorick (1913–93), who began to collect art when he moved to England after the Second World War.

Their love for italian art started when Estorick and his wife discovered Umberto Boccioni’s book Futurist Painting and Sculpture (1914). They were on honeymoon and they stopped in the studio of Futurist Mario Sironi in Milan where they bought most of the contents of his studio, including hundreds of drawings. This was the beginning of a collection built up mainly between 1953 and 1958.

Before the collection became a museum it was exhibitied in several temporary exhibitions, including one at the Tate Gallery in London in 1956. The project to create a foundation to host the collection came up just six months prior to Eric Estorick death.

The Estorick Collection moved to its current premises in Northumberland Lodge, previously the home and office of Sir Basil Spence, a British architect, a converted Grade II-listed Georgian house, in 1998.

The core of the collection is its Futurist works, but it also includes figurative art and sculpture dating from 1890 to the 1950s. It features paintings by Futurism's main protagonists: Giacomo Balla, Umberto Boccioni, Carlo Carrà, Gino Severini, Luigi Russolo and Ardengo Soffici, works by Giorgio de Chirico, Amedeo Modigliani, Giorgio Morandi, Mario Sironi and Marino Marini. Out of the italian names there is also a number of paintings and sculptures by contemporary English artists including Edward Dutkiewicz.

In addition to the main displays from the permanent collection, the Estorick Gallery organises temporary exhibitions.